Hosting Tips
Warning: This section covers FAQ for Mafia and is transcluded in the Mafia Guide for newbies and Guide to Hosting Please don't make changes unless you wish these changes to be included in that guide! If you're thinking about hosting a Mafia, you should be aware of several things first. Treat the following list of suggestions as a checklist to follow BEFORE attempting to host a Mafia. Hosting a Mafia is fun, BUT ...: *'GET MAFIA PLAYING EXPERIENCE FIRST:' Don't host until you have played at least 4 or more games and know what is necessary and expected of a host. There are many things going on BTSC that only hosts know of. So don't assume reading some game threads is enough to understand what a host is supposed to do during all cycles. *'UNDERSTAND GAME THEORY:' Make sure you understand complex Mafia strategy and game theory basis of Mafia inside-out before'' designing rules/roles and hosting. *'''DON'T PRESSURE YOURSELF INTO HOSTING: Hosting is fun, but also requires different sets of skill. Many great players are just players and are very content with playing. Everyone's got their niche, and we need us all to make good Mafia games. *'DON'T RUSH OR FEEL THEME-RUSHED:' Don't just say something like "Oh, I think hosting is cool so I'm interested in doing it" or "I don't see a game based off of , so I'm going to make one! Or someone else needs to make one!". Rather, think carefully about the game. The more creative, original and innovative you are, the better the game will be. Also, if you really want to use a theme for your game, see the section on "claiming Mafia Themes" to check your ideas first. *'DON'T TRY EVERYTHING AT ONCE': Try a smaller game first with straight-forward roles (6-10 players). Hosting (or co-hosting) a small game is not a shame. It will be easier to run and still give you a hosting experience. Large rosters and experimental roles should only be handled by hosts with enough experience to make tough decisions when unforeseen conflicts occur. Also, if a game is twice as large, it's probably four times harder to host. *'GET A CO-HOST/MENTOR HOST:' If you aren't a good writer or don't have a complete vision for a game or the size of the game is too big, definitely try to get a co-host, it can take some of the burden off. Co-hosting means sharing the hosting burden with a fellow co-host and the two of you together manage the game together. If you are past that step, tread carefully in the design phase: *'LOOK AROUND AND READ:' Look around at previous Mafia games for role ideas and ways that things could pan out. Also check out Mafia Discussion or other forums from various sites all of which are packed full of mafia discussion topics. Read the Category:Guides to find out how roles and actions might interact and interfere with one another and what you should expect and plan for. *'GET ORIGINAL': Make sure your idea is original and does not overlap with a recent idea someone had (See "Claiming a theme"). It's fun to write in your favorite universe, but Mafia games are much more than that! *'GET PUBLIC FEEDBACK': Start a topic (e.g. in the Game Ideas forum) with your game ideas and get valuable feedback from players. If that does not get enough attention, PM (but don't spam) experienced Mafia players/hosts and discuss with them your idea and role concepts. Try to get as much help as possible in designing your game (game balance and role descriptions). *'ORGANIZE YOUR UNIVERSE': Consider early in the design phase and tell players ' the order of actions' or precedence so that your choices as a host during the game will be consistent and the players can use logic to explain night posts. E.g. if you decide block stops kill then note that as "block>kill", and create a chain of actions that covers all possible actions e.g. redirect>block>save>kill>spy. See Advanced game design issues for more information. It will save you a lot of time preventing 1000+ questions during the game about action or role clashes. *'GET A FRESH PAIR OF EYES': Once you have the OP/Intro/Rules/Roles/etc stuff well defined and written out, have an experienced host check it over for balance. Game balance is the most important thing in designing a game Make sure you have a deep understanding of what game balance is and how to detect unbalance before even thinking about hosting. You can gain this insight from playing games and talking to experienced players & hosts beforehand while thinking about designing a game. Also, read all the Category:Guides *'DON'T RUSH': Do NOT assume that if no one answers to your Game Idea it is ready! Shout or PM people if no one answers after a week to attract attention. Don't be too pushy, either. People that are forced to give a review, may only review it to "get it over with". Only once your idea seems balanced enough and several experienced players and hosts have given their thoughts and you've patched it up, then you can add it to the queue and start signups for it once the queue reaches it! *'USE SIMULATIONS': Play out a demonstration/simulation of your game with the numbers of players in each faction to make sure it's not absurdly in favor of one faction. Better yet, play more simulations. Once the design phase is over, the queue and signup phase follow: * PLAN AHEAD: Know when you're active and when other Mafia games are going to start. PM (or shout) to a Mod to add your idea to the Game Queues if you cannot do that yourself. Make sure to queue your game in a good time slot that works for you and other players and doesn't interfere too much with other games and real life! Hosting takes a lot of your time, beware!!! It will really suck you in. IF you are a good host that is - you SHOULD dedicate a lot of time and effort into it. If you're not, something's definitely wrong. * QUEUE'': **'''If you plan to host it on BD (BrainDen): - Add it to the Games Signup Spreadsheet. Post a reply on Games to Come thread announcing your game is Ready! **'If you plan to host it on MM (MafiaManiac):' Create a new fresh topic in the Games Ready section, where you paste a cleaned up, final version of the game from the Game Idea section. Ask a Mod to help you if your editing time expires (although you should prepare the final version in a local editor beforehand). * BE ORGANIZED: Read and use the OP Checklist. Organizing your Original Post (OP) before starting the Mafia will save you a lot of questions and prevent many disputes (during and after the game). Use a nicely organized OP when posting your sign-ups * HAVE PATIENCE: Have patience and wait for the games in front of you in the queue to finish. When the game right in front of you is nearing its end, check with the Mods or previous host and then post a signup thread. * ATTRACT PLAYERS: Ask a Mod to update the announcements that a new Signup is in progress, shout about it, add it to your signature ... anything short of mass-spamming people. If your sign-ups are not full after a couple of days, consider inviting players that are semi-inactive, i.e. don't check the site daily. They might be interested if someone tells them via PM (which usually is forwarded to their favorite mail client). Again, DO NOT SPAM, make your invitations personal. * DON'T RUSH: Keep the sign-up thread open for backups and publicly ask for backups until you have at least 2-3. Even if you rush and start without backups, keep the signup thread open calling for backups. Finally, during the game: * DON'T BREAK YOUR OWN RULES: Keep in mind all of the role interactions that are going on - if someone's action may ( A ) affect another action, or ( B ) be affected by another action, check to make sure. Be mindful of action loops and know where to break them based on your previously decided-upon order of actions or precedence, follow any rules you've established in the OP and your previous answers. Make sure you know who has what 'voting power', so you know what's going in the day and what the votes cast are actually tallied. * DOUBLE CHECK: Always double-check your posts before posting them. Read for it from the players' perspective and see if you're not accidentally leaking too much information. Proofread your post before submitting it and check it against your host spreadsheet (or whatever method you use for keeping track of actions). Use the "Preview Post" option to ensure proper formatting. * THINK ABOUT LEAKS: Always double-check before you answer a question in the game thread or in BTSCs or PMs. Think twice before answering questions which might confirm inactive players or in other way leak meta-information about the players. DON'T LET ANY INFORMATION SLIP TO PLAYERS THAT THEY SHOULDN'T RECEIVE! After any out-of-the-norm action, sent-PM, player replacement, etc, analyze what kind of information it gives out to players. Also, beware of casual conversations (IRL, on-site via PMs or the Shoutbox or off-site via AIM/MSN/FB etc) and don't let anything slip that could affect the game. *'DETECT AND REACT': If someone does receive an unfair advantage via information, level the playing field and tell the secret. Think about the ramifications first, though, it may be detrimental to publicly reveal the info and there may be a better solution to the problem. If you've ran into a tricky situation, there's no shame in PMing other experienced hosts (that aren't playing the game of course) and use them as mentor hosts. * DON'T BREAK ON MISTAKES: You might make mistakes - from missing an action to accidentally outing someone. Don't be discouraged by that. But help prevent it by using at least a mentor co-host, someone who is told all the roles and has access to all the BTSC. The mentor can act as someone to bounce ideas off and double-check your posts and ruling about action interactions. Especially if you intend to use secret roles or secret WinCons! * WORK IN ADVANCE Type the post in advance and alter it based on action changes. Most times, no actions will change in the last 30-45 minutes of a night and this allows for a post right at the end of the night. Be sure to check for any last minute action changes, just in case. In the event of a last minute action change, most of the post is already written. In rare cases, the changed action will change a large portion of the post. * BE THERE: Remember your post times. If you can't make the post on time, give warning. It's much better for everyone to know that the post is delayed than having a mob waiting for a MIA host. Have fun and good luck! Hosting can be tough, but don't forget to: * KEEP TRACK OF EVERYTHING: Keep a log of all night/day actions & events that occur. * BE ACTIVE: Make sure you're on top of your game, and very active. Answer players' questions, set clear deadlines. * ANTICIPATE:Try to anticipate possible role disputes and special cases before the game even begins, so that you don't have to untangle sticky situations once the game has begun * BE INSPIRED: Have a vision and a passion behind the storylines behind night and day posts * DELIVER: Whatever you do, DELIVER ON TIME! You can't ask players to respect the time limits if you can't even get a night post or day post in on time __NOEDITSECTION__ Category:Guides